Raipur: Using humans as shields, Maoists on Monday unleashed a major attack killing 14 CRPF personnel, including two officers, and injuring 12 others in the second ambush on the force in 10 days in the same Naxal-infested Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
Representational image. PTI
The Maoist strike on the CRPF when its personnel were returning to their camp was the biggest attack on the paramilitary force in Chattisgarh this year. On 11 March, eleven CRPF men were among 15 people killed in a Maoist attack in Sukma district.
"As per latest reports, 14 CRPF men were killed and another 12 have been injured," Chattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told reporters late Monday night.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh condemned the attack.
"Words are not enough to condemn the brutal and inhuman attack by anti-national elements in Sukma," Modi tweeted, while Singh called it an act of cowardice and a "dastardly act" of violence. Singh is leaving for Chattisgarh on Tuesday for an assessment of the situation.
"The Naxals have carried out the attack by putting innocent villagers as human shields," Singh told reporters in Lucknow.
A joint squad of CRPF, its elite battalion-CoBRA (Compact Battalion for Resolute Action) and district force was attacked by a large group of armed rebels in the dense forests in insurgency-hit South Bastar when they were returning to their camp after combing and area domination operations over several days in the Chintagufa region, about 450 km from Raipur, a senior police official said.
The official said rebels opened indiscriminate firing on the security patrol in the forests between Dornapal and Chintalnar villages when they were cordoning off Kasalpada forest leaving 13 of them dead on the spot.
"Two officers--a Deputy Commandant and an Assistant Commandant--are among 13 CRPF men killed in the ambush," Chattisgarh's Additional Director General of Police RK Vij told PTI. The Deputy Commandant and Assistant Commandant were identified as B S Verma and Rajesh Kapuriya.
The attack took place in the same base region of outlawed CPI (Maoist) where 76 troopers were massacred in 2010.
Subsequently, security personnel launched retaliatory attack and the encounter lasted for around several hours following which rebels fled to the core forest area, a senior police official said.
"As per the inputs, Naxals have also suffered causalities in the exchange of fire and at least eight cadres were gunned down," the official claimed, adding that, however, the bodies of killed ultras have not been recovered.
Soon after the incident, reinforcements were rushed to the spot.
Five CRPF personnel were injured on 21 November in the same area in an encounter with Maoists who also attacked an IAF helicopter. An IAF commando was also injured.
The attack came at a time when a National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) delegation headed by former foreign secretary and chairman Shyam Saran is on a three-day visit to the state from Sunday. It visited Bastar and Dantewada on Monday and met senior officials there.
The CRPF personnel killed in the naxal ambush have been identified as Sub-Inspector Hemraj, Head Constable Panchu Ram and Kuldeep Ponia, Constables Umang Pawar, Ram Mohan, PL Maji, Mukesh Kumar, Gauri Shankar, Manish Singh, Radhe Shyam, Saji Bhat and Deepak Kumar.
While strongly condemning the attack, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh called it a "cowardly act" of violence.
"Rebels do not have courage to take on security forces face-to-face so they target them in a cowardly manner by laying ambush.
"It is a cowardly act. The naxals were frustrated due to the actions of security force personnel. It (attack) was result of their frustration," he told PTI in Delhi.
Singh, who was in the national capital, cut short his visit and rushed to Raipur late night from Monday.
Expressing deep condolences over the death of security personnel, the chief minister of the BJP-ruled state said that naxals were desperate to retaliate.
"It is unfortunate that they attacked. We are determined to end the menace of naxalism from the state," he said.
Singh also briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the naxal ambush.
The Chhattisgarh chief minister has called an emergency meeting of senior state government officials around midnight to discuss the situation, a senior state government official said.
"The Chief Minister is in touch with the senior officials of the state and police forces regularly after the attack and is continuously monitoring the situation," he said.
PTI
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